Italian bistro Bellini, which opened almost a year ago, has recently announced its upcoming high season programme of classical and jazz gigs through until May of next year. LengPleng sat down with pianist and entrepreneur Gabriele Faja to discuss the ideas behind the schedule.
Can you take us through the history, and how you came to be an outdoor non-wet season music venue? “We opened Bellini in December 2023, an Italian bistro punching a bit above its weight. Of course being a musician, a pianist, I thought, hey, let’s do some gigs. We figured out a way to make it happen logistically – putting the stage beside the restaurant, in front of Soundskool, rolling a piano out from the showroom, setting up lights, under the stars, it’s nice. So we put on some ad hoc recitals, some jazz, a choir, an opera night. This year I wanted things to be more structured – all the bookings and the calendar done in advance, and now we can release the whole schedule.”
And we’re not talking piano bar, or restaurant/cocktail jazz in a corner, are we? “No, but it’s still a very simple concept. Every gig will have grand piano, no keyboards involved, that’s the minimum standard. I want to do events that are not replications, but something special each time, although still with the Phnom Penh get-it-done spirit – you need somebody slightly crazy who’s happy to pay the expenses. We can only seat around 65, which sounds like a lot, but it’s very easy to book out. People can come and stand at the bar, but for a seat you will have to book.”
Let’s take a look at the events making up this season. “The first one, on Wednesday 11 December, is a 4-hand piano recital, where two pianists sit side by side at the same piano. This is my first time playing with Etienne Chenevier, and we’re doing Ravel’s La Valse and the Schubert F minor Fantasy. I never really get to play apart from once or twice a year, so it’s my chance to get on stage.
“Then in mid January we are doing a two-night special tribute to the Miles Davis 1959 album Kind of Blue. Even people who aren’t crazy deep into jazz like to listen to this one – Miles, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane – megastars still quite early in their careers. It’s a special album, and the music has a cool, slightly restrained anti-bebop feel that fits well with today’s rushed life. It’ll be an eight-piece band – we’ve added a few horns and we’ll have two guest pianists – led by Steven Cannon, a superb trumpet player who lives in Thailand, he’ll fly in for these two back-to-back gigs.
“In February and March, Piano Trilogy One and Two will raise money for Cambodian-based Italian NGO Il Nodo. It’s three pianists playing 20 minutes of solo performance each – they can play anything they want, but without using any sheet music, so it has to be either memorised or improvised. Quite a cool concept. So there will be six pianists on two different nights, three different styles each time. This particular concept has been running for a while – it started at [long-closed Phnom Penh venue] Doors a long time ago.
“Also in February, Phnom Penh Singers, a Japanese choir, they’re always fun. In April, the opera special, mezzosoprano Ai Iwasaki who pops up once a year and does her thing. Finally in May, Northpoint Project, a husband and wife team, Jeremie and Marie Coquillart, who play very cool experimental jazz. Then the rains come and we wrap it up and wait for next year.
The first event of the season, the four-hand piano recital featuring Etienne Chenevier and Gabriele Faja playing Ravel and Schubert, will take place on Wednesday 11 December at 8 pm. All events on the Bellini calendare are sponsored by The Piano Shop, Soundskool, Italian business chamber ItaCham, Italian Cambodian Arts and Buonissimo.
